London driver fury at getting SEVEN £130 penalty charges in two weeks
EXCLUSIVE: Driver’s fury at getting SEVEN £130 penalty charges in just two weeks for driving up ‘residents only’ road after getting ‘trapped’ in one-way zone with ‘no clear sign’ during daily school runs
- Software developer Karan Singh faced having to pay £910 if he contested fines
- Mr Singh, 36, of Catford, South London, slammed Lewisham Council
- Disputed street is Lewisham’s Dermody Road which had new regulations in 2020
- Mr Singh was further angered when penalty charge notices ‘arrived in a bunch
A motorist has told of his fury after he received seven penalty charge notices in two weeks for repeatedly driving up a ‘residents only’ road in London without realising it was camera protected.
Software developer Karan Singh faced having to pay £910 if he contested the fines and lost his appeals after being ‘trapped’ while taking two of his children to school.
Mr Singh, 36, of Catford, South London, slammed Lewisham Council for hitting him with the fines which arrived on his doorstep ‘in a bundle.’
He said he received notices of fines on the same day and the seven offences ranged from the 5th of September to the 26th.
He said: ‘I am really angry. I feel like I have been trapped and what is worse is that there is no clear sign saying you can’t drive up the hill in the direction you came from.
‘You can drive down the hill but not back up it. It is not clear at all.
‘I eventually saw a sign warning about a camera, but it was bent backwards and around a post so it looked like it was no longer being enforced.’
The disputed street is Dermody Road in Lewisham which had new regulations invoked in 2020.
A motorist has told of his fury after he received seven penalty charge notices in two weeks for repeatedly driving up a ‘residents only’ road in London without realising it was camera protected. Above: Dermody Road in Lewisham and the ‘bent’ sign that deceived driver Karan Singh
But Mr Singh said he was further angered when penalty charge notices ‘arrived in a bunch and at the same time.’
He said: ‘Apparently the first offence was on September 5th and the others on the 7th, 11th, 16th (twice), 17th and 21st.
‘Why did I receive four letters in one day for offences that took place on the 5th September and 16th September at the same time?
‘If they had sent me the first one, I would have maybe paid it and never gone down that road again.
‘But I drove down it a further six times. Nobody would do that if they knew they were going to be fined. I feel I have been trapped into this.’
He said each ticket demanded an early payment of £65 but each would increase to £130 if he appealed and failed to pay within the 28-day early notice period.
Software developer Mr Singh faced having to pay £910 if he contested the fines and lost his appeals after being ‘trapped’ while taking two of his children to school
‘I have paid the first four but I am very unhappy and feel ripped off.
‘I am hoping Lewisham Council will see sense and realise that it is an unfair system. I can’t afford these fines and they are very unfair.
‘I don’t know why the council have done this. What is a road if not a concrete monstrosity if not used?
‘What do the council expect to happen…that some handsome re-wilding will take place because they have stopped traffic in one direction?’
But a letter sent by the council to Mr Singh stated his car was ‘observed via camera CCTV failing to comply with the prevention of certain types of vehicles.’
It added: ‘We have considered everything you have said in your representation including mitigation, but we do not feel that you have made grounds for cancelling the penalty charge notice.’
Lewisham Council has been contacted for comment by MailOnline.
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